And it's beautiful
by Thepantheracanidaeandhorse
Summary: Sesshoumaru decides to train Sango.


Warning: Author's ramblings, skip ahead to the story if that is all you're here for.

You know, I was going to write a Kagome and Inuyasha one-shot when I realized I didn't like Kagome that much. I like Sango but I don't think she fits with Miroku as you can gather from the pairing I chose. I don't think the author, Rumiko, really understood her character and portrayed her in a satisfactory way(in my opinion). For this story, Sango is NOT in love with Miroku. That relationship just bugs me.

I'm laughing at myself as I write this because it was like this:

Me: Ok, now I'm going write a Kagome and Inuyasha interaction.  
-Ok, what should I write?  
-Hmmm, or maybe I should pair her with Sesshoumaru?  
-Because I like Sesshoumaru too...  
-But I kind of want to change Kagome because her character doesn't really match him...  
-Actually, I don't really like Kagome...  
-WAIT A MINUTE, I don't even like Kagome!  
-What the hell am I doing?

and I started laughing at myself. Heh, just thought I'd share that with you.

I know, you're starting to question if I'm normal.

Well then, on with the story...

* * *

She's fierce, he decides as he watches her. Like fire; angry, burning brightly. And there's a faint glow to her as she lashes out at the air.

She's improving, he decides as he watches her execute a familiar series of techniques.

But after a few moments, her movements begin to grow more rapid and he takes note that she's losing some accuracy. That she's just punching the air now. And he sees the anguish in her eyes and the tight clenching of her jaw and he understands why.

Why she trains alone because it's moments like these that she knows will trouble her teammates.

It's one of her secrets and he feels almost privileged to know it. Except maybe she should be the one feeling privileged for him to be watching her. Stupid human. Woman.

She's rushing forward now and takes off from the ground, bouncing off a nearby tree with her feet. She back flips again and lands smoothly on the ground. She positions herself and swiftly throws her foot against the tree. He sees the dent her kick makes and is secretly impressed.

But he also knows that it still paled in comparison to the many strong youkai around her and finds himself wishing that the dent was a little bigger. No. The tree should have snapped in half.

He resists the urge to show her how weak she really is.

She's punching the tree now, scarring it. Swift, hard blows. Deeper and deeper and he begins to smell blood and it draws him, but no, he is not weak. He will control himself.

She continues to punch and her breathing becomes more and more labored. And her punches are no longer skillfully executed but rashly thrown, energy wasted and she's breathing harder and he can tell she doesn't know what she's punching anymore. Doesn't know where she is anymore. Doesn't know that her knuckles will break soon.

Ah, the anguish of losing a loved one. Or loved ones in her case. He knew it well.

And finally she stops and she's taking deep, hoarse breathes and she places her hands against the tree softly and leans against it, her head hanging down between her arms and her bangs shadowing her eyes. And he smells the tears and hears her sob.

And she looks up and grits her teeth, tears streaming down her face and she smashes the side of a clenched fist against the splintered bark and pushes roughly off of it.

She quickly wipes her eyes, rage and brokenness and pain on her face and sinks to the ground on her knees, her head down and her hands hanging limply at her sides.

Her breathe comes out in hoarse, erratic pants and more tears roll down her cheeks and her hands drop to the dirt and she clutches at it, almost as if to transfer the pain she feels to it.

And he can't stop watching, and it's beautiful...

He supposed one could call him sick for feeling so. But it wasn't that he wanted to see her in pain and deep suffering. At least he didn't think it was. It was the passion that drew him. The pain and the loss and the love and the hate rolling off of her in waves, bright red waves of burning heat that warms his soul. Draws the cold ashes of his heart from off the floor and turning it into smoldering embers.

Maybe it should have disturbed him to find such...comfort in her agony. But having lived far longer than many beings, seen so many lives destroyed, destroyed many lives himself, seen more blood and separated body parts and hate and anger and pain to last him until his death and more, he wasn't sure there was anything left to disturb him.

And maybe he watched her because it'd been too long since he'd felt such passion and could never again imagine himself lash out rashly due to hurt and loss. He'd been long past that stage. Long past the stage where he felt, and grew angry and was able to be hurt. Now it was as if he were impenetrable ice, and even the scorching sun can't melt him.

Even the little girl Rin is barely enough to keep him from freezing over completely.

So he's attracted to her. Like a moth to the flames. And he can't help but breathe in the fumes of her anger and taste the sparks of her hate on his tongue.

And maybe as he watches her, he becomes part of her and he's ten again and he's not jaded and he's not scarred but young.  
And hurting. And angry. And alive.

Or maybe he was just bored.

Either way he was drawn. Had been drawn ever since he'd met her traveling with the half-breed and his obnoxious woman and that damn monk with the lecherous hand that he wouldn't mind snapping off-. Drawn to her and her pain and her scent and her laughter and her. And her.

And her eyes as they look at him now and he realizes he'd taken a few steps forward without meaning to.

Curse this body of his.

This wasn't how he had planned to meet her. In fact he had never planned any of this.

What the hell was he doing chasing after a human woman anyway? No, not chasing, merely...inspecting. Out of boredom. Really.

He watches as shock flitters across her features and she quickly wipes her eyes before glaring at him, "What are you doing here?" she quips, her body switching instinctively to a defensive stance.

He doesn't know what to say and merely stares at her.

She narrows her eyes.

And then to his surprise, she relaxes a little and a tired look comes onto her face. She turns away and says, "If you're looking for Inuyasha, keep walking north and you'll see our camp."

"I'm not here for Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru says.

"Then if you don't mind, I'd like to be left alon-," and she whips around and raises an eyebrow at him.

"What?" She says.

"You heard me," he says monotonously.

Anger flashes quick through her eyes and she takes a deep breathe before saying, "Then what are you doing here?"

"It is not your place to question what I do," he half growls.

Sango lets out a dry laugh and wipes the sweat trickling down her face, "I do not need this right now," he hears her mutter.

"Well then if you don't mind, I'd like some privacy-" she says and she turns to walk away.

In the blink of an eye, he's in front of her again, "Don't walk away from me, human," he growls, baring his teeth.

"Then what the hell do you want!" She yells then quickly backs up and looks away, placing a hand to her forehead.

"Please," she whispers and the brokenness in her voice causes the ashes of his heart to shiver, "I shouldn't be around anybody right now."

He rushes forward and wrenches her hand from her forehead, "Look at me when you speak to me," he hisses dangerously.

And she snaps.

And they go at it. And he sees the anger in her explode and is thankful for once that he is extremely skilled in combat.

Blows rain down on him and he blocks and he notes that her speed has increased.

Well, she couldn't have all the fun.

He catches her next punch and swings her roughly into a nearby tree. She reacts quickly and changes her position in mid-air, landing against it again and using it as leverage to flip off. She wastes no time in charging at him and they dance the familiar dance of battle. She punches and he dodges and occasionally, he retaliates, landing bruise forming punches on her body.

Soon, it is clear to both who the victor will be.

She disengages and flips a little distance from him.

"You're holding back," she spits and her face is flushed and her breathing heavy.

"Don't hold back," she barks, "don't you dare hold back from me," she shouts and rushes forward.

He decides she's had enough and catches both her arms. She struggles angrily and before she can kick him, he catches the back of her knees and twists her body around so she would be unable to move without his permission. She continues to struggle, however, and only stops when it starts to register in her mind that she was at his mercy. She stops then and her body begins to shake.

He's confused but then he hears her chuckle.

And her chuckles turn into short laughs and then she throws her head back and laughter is pouring out of her mouth. Bitter, empty, mirthless laughter and he wants to shut her mouth and tightens his hold on her. But sooner then he'd expected, her laughter dies down and she's quiet for a few seconds.

Then the muscles of her body contract and he smells the salty tang of tears.

And she sobs.

"We can't beat him," she whispers brokenly, tears dripping off her chin, "we're not going to make it."

And he throws her down onto the ground. She lands on her back with a yelp and he straddles her waist, pinning her down.

"What are you doing?" She yells, shock overriding her grief for a second and she starts struggling again.

He kisses her then.

And her body stills and he feels her looking at him. Taking advantage of her stunned state, he shoves his tongue into her mouth and strokes along her heated flesh.

He feels her suck in a breathe and just as she begins to relax and respond, he pulls away with a small sucking sound.

She stares at him, a little dazed before snapping to attention and before she can respond in another bout of rage, he pulls her into a sitting position and leans in close to her ear and whispers, "If you don't kill Naraku, I'll kill you myself."

And she begins to sob in response, louder and tears spill down her cheeks again and she clutches at his kimono, leaning her forehead against him. "Sesshoumar-I...can't," she chokes out, "I...can't...I do..n't..."

"You will," he says firmly, "or you die by my hands."

She chokes out a laugh and gradually her sobs die down. She loosens her grip and lets him go, wiping her face with her sleeve and finally looking at him, her eyes sad but a little softer than before.

"I'm sorry," she says and then looks away, "it's too much sometimes."

"I meant what I said," he says softly.

She gives another laugh, "Yea, well maybe I deserve to die."

He takes hold of her chin and her eyes meet his, sorrowful, deep, dark brown eyes that almost make him forget. But he doesn't.

"I'll train you," he says.

She sniffs and wraps her hand around his pulse, searching his eyes to make sure he wasn't mocking her.

He smirks, "When this Sesshoumaru promises something, he does it."

She gives a small smile, the first genuine one he's seen in awhile. Then her eyes become alert and she says, "Have you been following us?"

He stiffens and tears his wrist from her grasp. Standing up and turning around, he says with contempt in his voice, "I've been traveling. Don't accuse me of such obscene behavior, human."

She chuckles softly and he hears her get up and he turns back to see her dusting herself off.

She straightens and looks at him. They look at each other. And he turns and begins to walk away.

"When can we start?" Sango asks after him.

He stops and turns his face to the side, "I'll find you," and out of the corner of his eyes, he sees her smile again.

He starts to walk.

"Sesshoumaru," she calls after him and he stops again, not bothering to turn around.

"Thank you." Sango says.

He gives a curt nod and disappears. And as he vanishes, the corners of his mouth lift.

And he smiles.

* * *

My...word, I seem to make the characters angrier and angrier, eh? But seriously, this is closer to what I imagine someone who has been through what she's been through would be like, not that bullshit motherly personality she has in the anime. Bull. Shit. Man. To me, anyway. I know, I know, many probably like Sango like that. But definitely not me. Who cares? Well...how wude(remember JarJar Binks?). Wonder what the next character will be like.

So anyway, hope you enjoyed it and if you'd be so kind and inclined, please let me know of any good Sango and Sesshoumaru stories. Much appreciated(obliged? appreciated? Does that make sense?).


End file.
